Internship Spotlight – Hannah Watts, General Mills

Hannah Watts is a Marketing and Business Management major who will graduate in May of 2019.  She interned this summer for General Mills Inc. as the Business Management Associate Intern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

What was a typical day like? As a BMA Intern, my role was what I like to call “consultative sales.” We rely heavily on data analytics! My day always started with a bowl of cheerios (half Honey Nut, half Yellow Box), followed by working on one of my major projects. This included tasks anywhere from conducting analyses using Nielsen to building PPT decks to meeting with mentors so I could run through my thought process. I also completed day-to-day reports, including performance trackers and running analyses for field reps upon request.

What was your favorite part of the experience? The people! General Mills’ secret sauce is the culture. Not only was the office energetic, competitive, and jocular, but my coworkers gave me constant support. Whether it was taking time out of their much-busier day to give context around my project, or it was to tell me why my Nielsen pull wasn’t working for the third time, everyone in the office supported me. It was the epitome of a “win as a team” environment.

If you worked on a big project, please describe it below: I worked on six main projects throughout the summer ranging from distribution to merchandising analysis, but the largest was my customer pitch. I was selling two new items and two established voids into one of our small Eastern Region customers. I created a pitch deck and corresponding verbal pitch using category trends, consumer insights, and delete recommendations (through analyzing turns ranking). I directly pitched this during a customer meeting (yes – I got customer exposure as an intern!), and as a result, sold in two hot snacks items (think Totino’s Pizza Rolls) and one cereal item! This increased customer revenue by $75,000 per year.

What did you find most challenging about your internship?The learning curve. Learning General Mills-specific analytics tools, and how to leverage them to gather the most relevant analysis in an efficient manner, took a few weeks to feel like I fully understood what I was doing. Also, company and industry lingo took some time to get down pat. But slowly, I started to understand concepts without cognitively realizing it, and before I knew it, I could complete projects with minimal help. So, my best advice… trust the learning curve!

Did your internship employer provide housing or transportation assistance? My employer provided financial assistance for housing and/or moving.

Anything else you would like to share about your internship experience? General Mills rocks – I highly recommend the company!!